Vehicle jack



Mar. 13, 1923. 1,448,261

E. l. CUSTER VEHICLE JACK w Il uuml Mar. 13, 1923.

E. l. CUSTER VEHICLE JACK OTlgnal Filed Apr', ll, 1921 2 sheets-sheet Patented Mar. 13, 1923.

STTES EUGENE 1. cusrER, or JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

VEHICLE JACK.

Application led yApril 11, 1921, Serial No. l560,311. Renewed August 7, 1922. Serial No. 580,279. y

To @ZZ whom it may concern.' y

Be it known that I, EUGENE I. CUsTER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Jacksonville, in the county of Duval and State of Florida, have invented certain new` and useful Improvements in Vehicle Jacks,l

of which the -following is a specification.

rIhis invention relates to vehicle vj acks, and it comprises a frame, front and rear shafts arranged on said frame, said shafts being provided with cranks, a pair of longitudinal supporting members secured to said cranks, an actuating member secured to one of 'said shafts adapted to engage a lportion of the vehicle to initially raise the supporting beams,`

inclined blocks arranged adjacent the ends of the shafts, and means for moving the longitudinal beams forwardly to position the wheels of the vehicle iii front of said blocks.

- In the present invention, I have provided a vehicle jack or support for motor vehicles,

when standing, lincluding a pair of beams adapted to be arranged longitudinallyof the car, said beams being capable of being raised to lift the wheels offl the ground and thus remove unnecessary strain fromthe tires while the vehicle is standing.' I further provide means whereby the vehicle may be run onto the jack and raised by its own power without the necessity of operating cranks or levers manually or by the means of outside power. Oneof the crank shafts is provided with an actuating member arranged at substantially Y right angles to the crank portions which support the beam. This actuating member is normally in a raised position when the longitudinal beams are lowered and the vehicle running onto the jack 'strikes this member and moves it through a portion of a revolution and slightly raises the longitudinal beams.y

The other shaft is provided with a pair of similarly arranged members positioned near f each side in the path of the wheels, and

adapted to swing over a pair of inclined blocks. The front wheels of the vehicle in passing over the inclined blocks are adapted to engage these members and lower them to a nearly horizontal position at thetime the cranks are in a vertical position and the longitudinal beams raised. Further forward movement of the machine depresses these members to a substantially horizontal position and moves the cranks past center to move the vehicle forwardly and ydisen#L spaced therefrom when Ain normal position.

The planks are capable of being raised and a crank shaft is 'provided for raising them.v

to engagethei'ear wheels and furnish traction. l

In the accompanying drawings,I have y shown one embodiment this showing:

` .Figure l'is a plan'view,

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view on line 2;-2 of Figure. 1,

of the invention. In l Figure?) is a detailsectional view on line f 4 3-3of Figure 1, f

Figure t isa side elevation showing the longitudinal beams vin raised position,

Figure 5 is a similar view. showing the longitudinal beams -in lowered position,

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of f the front crank shaft,

' lFigure 7 v is a -similar View of the rear crank. shaft, and,

Figure 8.is a similar view of the auxiliary crankshaft. f

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates transverse beams forming a portion of the frame. Any suitable number of transverse beams maybe employfl ed. At' each side of the plurality of longitudinal transverse beams, a beams, 2,3 and are verse beam 5 (see Figure 3). A vforward provided. The inner and 'y outervbeams 2 ico crank shaft 6 is larranged on theV frame, be-

ing supported in suitable bearings 7, secured to the bea-ms 2 and The shaft is provided y with a pair of offset portions'8, providinga crank 9 arranged centrally thereof, and

vwith offset portions l0, at each side of the center,.formingcranks 11. The rear'crank shaft l2 is provided with offset portions 13, forming a pair of cranks 14and is further vprovided with centrally arranged oifsetfp'ortions 15, forming an actuating member .16. A pair of longitudinal beams 17 are secured to the crank 9 of the forward shaft and to the cranks 14 of the rear shaft. These beams may be connected by a suitable trans-- is secured to a pivoted lever 24, mounted in a suitable supporting bracket 25. By means l of the lever, the forward crank shaft may be operated by hand to raise and lower the longitudinal beams,

Adjacent the rear of the machine, an aun-i.. iliary shaft 26 is provided, having a pair of crank portions 27, arranged beneath the free endsof the center longitudinal beams 3. This shaft is provided with an actuating handle 28. A chain 29 is secured to the handle, the opposite end of the chain being secured to a hinged to the rear of the frame, as at 31. j

In operation, with the parts in the position shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, the vehicle is driven up the runway 30, over the inclined blocks 20. The front aXle, or other portion ing member 16, `which is in raised position when the beams are lowered, being arranged at substantially right anglesv to the cranks 14. The engagement i of vthe aXle or other portion of vthe vehicle with the actuating this member through a portion of ya revolution as the vmachine is moved forward, until the aXle or other portion of the vehicle clears the actuating member. The partial revolur tion of the actuating member initially raises the longitudinal beam 17 to a position slightly below the frame of the vehicle,and

ready to engage it. The vehiclev continues forward until the front wheels ypass k'onto the front inclined blocks 19 when the wheels engage the members 11,whichY are in a pari tially raised position. Continued forward movement of the vehicle forces these memel bers downwardly to raise the longitudinal beams to their highest point. The position of the longitudinal beams and the actuating f.

members 11 at this time is illustrated in dot-` ted lines in Figure 4 of the drawings-Tt will be noted that the vehicle wheelshowni in dotted lines is arranged at the front of the inclined members 19, when thel crank 9 is in its highest position, and just about to passy..

a pair of z-longitudinal:supporting vbeams 11 are lowered to the Ifull line position, and. thus moving the crank-9 moves past center, the longitudinal beams forwardly and alposition shown runway 30, secured of the machine engages the actuatmember 16 moves .ing beams `:pair v carried by isaidi shafts-,supportingbeams` secured to saidcranks, ianactuating memthe auxiliary shaft 26 and-raise the crank c portionsr27. This raises the free ends of the longitudinal beams 3 to the dotted linel in engagement with the rear wheel shown in dotted lines.

to permit the, vehicle to be run off the jack Traction is thus furnished in Figure 3 ofthe drawings,Y

under its ,own powerf- As thevwheels pass over the hinged runway, 80, which is raised. to the dotted line position shown in Figure 4 of the drawingswhen the l,handle 28 -is moved forwardly, the vehicle wheels lower --..the hinged runway, and thus return the A,free

ends of the beamsto their normal position. Tt is to be :understood that the form of my invention herewith shownand described is to be; taken as a prefer-red example of they same,` and thatvarious changes in the shape,

size, andarrangementof parts maybe ,re-

sorted to without departingfrom the spirit `of the yinv,enti0 n,or the ,scope of the sub-t joinedclaiins. L.

Having thus described myy invention, I

v claim; l

A vehicle jack comprisinga frame, va pair cranks carried by saidl shafts,` supporting `of shafts arrangedon said. frame beamsasecured to said cranks, an actuating s `member carried'. by `one .of saidfshafts to initially raise 1v-said supporting beains, ,and

means operable bythe vehicle yto raise said beamsA into engagement fwith a portionfof the vehicle.:

2. A vehicle-jackcomprising a frame,I a

i pair `of shafts secured'y thereto, cranks ar'- i ranged on said shafts, longitudinal support-py securedto saidcranks', an actuatingfmembercarried by one of said; shafts toinitiallyraisesaid supporting beams, and?, 1- cranks carriedby ithegothen shaft operable/fy by the vehicleto raisesaid beams into engagementwithaportionfof the vehicle.

3. A vehicle jack comprising .a frame, a of shafts mounted on said frame, cranks ber carried by one Iof saidshafts to initially raise -Said supporting beams,

pair, of cranks carried by the y'other i nshaft,y at substantially right angles to saidfirst mentioned cranks,

a pairl of inclined blocks arranged adjacent iso 'said crankszover :which the wheelstof the vehicle are adapt-edgto pass-,pand means foradapted-to engageaportionof the vehicle,

and meansffor -iaisingfsaid beamsfto elevate the wheels .of the zvehicle, :of Imovable t-raci tion members adapted to engage the rear wheels when in elevated position, and means for actuating said movable traction members.

5. In a vehicle jack, the combination with a pair of longitudinal supporting beams adapted to engage a portion of the vehicle, and means for raising said beams to elevate the Wheels of the vehicle, of a pair of beams arranged in the path of the rear Wheels, the ends of said beams adjacent said Wheels being Capable of vertical movement, a shaft arranged beneath the vertical movable end of said beams, and cranks mounted on said shaft adapted to engage the; free ends of said beams to raise them into engagement With the Wheels of the vehicle.

6. A vehicle jack comprising a frame, a pair of shafts mounted on said frame, one of said shafts being provided with a centrally arranged crank portion and a pair of cranks at each side thereof and projecting at substantially right angles to said centrally arranged crank portions, the other shaft being provided With a pair of crank portions arranged at substantially the same angle as said centrally arranged crank p0rtion, and an actuating member arranged at substantially right angles thereto, a pair of longitudinal beams secured to the centrally arranged crank portion of the first shaft and the pair of crank portions of the seco-nd shaft, a pair of inclined blocks arrangedy adjacent the pair of cranks carried by said rst shaft, and vertically movable beams adapted to engage the rear Wheels of the vehicle to permit the vehicle to be removed from the jack.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

EUGENE I. CUSTER, 

